SPORTS

March 04, 2011|BY DEB SMITH, dsmith@aberdeennews.com

Aberdeen News

Aberdeen Roncalli didn't want to waste any more time with delays and postponements.

The Cavaliers jumped out to a quick lead and never trailed on the way to a 57-42 win over Leola-Frederick on Thursday at the Aberdeen Civic Arena. The game, which was postponed from Tuesday due to weather, was a semifinal matchup in District 1A.

I thought we came out ready to play, said Roncalli coach Todd Neuendorf. We kind of set the tempo but then we kind of got stuck on cruise control. The players were really excited to play on Tuesday. We played hard. We did what we had to start the game and set the tempo.

A couple of steals and a pair of field goals by Brendon Hoellein staked Roncalli to a 10-0 lead after two minutes.

We were disappointed about the postponement, said Hoellein. We were ready to go tonight (Thursday). We have our goals and we know what we wanted to do. The last few games we didn't start very well. We worked on starting out fast.

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The Cavaliers kept up the full court pressure and extended the lead to 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Those postponements kind of get us anxious; more anxious than anything, said Andrew Holmstrom of the Cavaliers. We just want to get to game time. I thought we played hard the first quarter like we were ready to play and then we just let off the gas. They (Leola-Frederick) got back in it.

After a slow start the Titans started to make a comeback.

I was worried about their press, said Titans coach Lucas Bruns. I thought we did a pretty good job of preparing for it in practice. It's hard to prepare for the speed that Roncalli has. We were still kind of shell-shocked by the amount of pressure and denial that they put on the ball. They get every loose ball.

The Titans pulled to within 15 points with four minutes left in the game on a field goal and free throw by Brian Sumption and a two-pointer by Adam Dutenhoffer who led his team with 18 points.

What picked up was our defense. Our offense stayed constant. It was the defense that gave up 22 points in the first quarter and then 35 the rest of the game, said Bruns.

Sumption also reached double figures in scoring for Leola-Frederick with 12.

The second half we didn't put any of the full court stuff on anymore, said Neuendorf. That's how we got it going in the first quarter. These kids are so ingrained to full court that they're not used to backing it off. Give Leola-Frederick credit. They played hard the whole night. They kept scrapping and got some baskets. We didn't take care of the basketball at times.

Holmstrom paced Roncalli with 20 points, followed by Hoellein with 14 and Austin Bierle with 11.

Aberdeen Roncalli advanced to the District 1A championship game against Groton on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Civic Arena.